His Greatest Revenge
by Mystitat
Summary: And you thought Mystitat didn't write fanfiction anymore. This is the sequel to His Greatest Sacrifice that I've had in the works for years now. Mistoffelees did say he would come back. It might have gone better if Alonzo hadn't kept this secret from him.
1. Chapter 1

His Greatest Revenge

By Mystitat

A/N: And you thought Mystitat didn't write fanfiction anymore.

Well, I don't. But I had half this story written already, sitting on my hard drive for years. I just liked it so much I thought it deserved an ending.

This story is the sequel to "His Greatest Sacrifice." It will probably hold up all right on its own, but the backstory will help it make more sense. Enjoy.

* * *

It had been two years. Two whole years had gone by in the junkyard, and still he was not missed, except by a couple cats.

Maybe it was better that way.

His absence pained those few cats who remembered what he was like before. Most didn't. Any fond memory they might have had for the little shy tuxedo was irrevocably poisoned by deeply-instilled hatred for magical cats.

His one and only friend remembered it clearly. "Take care of Victoria," he'd said in parting.

"I will," the patched tom responded. He'd tried to convince him to stay, but it was no use. The power had taken him to the point where he enjoyed what he had become too much to go back. Returning to a life of trying to hide his power would have been torture.

Besides, he'd said it himself: "All magical cats are evil."

"No, no they're not! Mistoffelees, you're wrong!" Alonzo muttered, unconscious that he was disturbing the queen lying next to him.

She poked him hard on the shoulder to wake him up. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the old VW Bug they slept in. "'Lonzo!" she urged, "Wake up! You're dreaming again!"

"Huh, huh? What?" he uttered as he was jerked back to consciousness. Then he noticed the queen in his arms was staring at him indignantly. "Sorry, darling," he whispered. "Bad dream."

"Hmph," she muttered as she rolled over so that he was hugging her back. "You need to stop dreaming about that."

"I know," he replied with a smile. She said that every time he woke up muttering like that. "I just miss the guy, that's all."

Mistoffelees' parting words rang in Alonzo's mind as he gazed at his mate. "Take care of Victoria," he'd said. Well, take care of her he did. No one could argue that Victoria was not well taken care of.

"Hmph," she repeated. "I still can't believe you still wish he'd come back."

"You wanted him to come back."

"Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"I hate him."

It was an old argument, but Alonzo still snarled every time Victoria professed her hatred of the tuxedo who changed his life.

Her face soured in response. "He killed Plato. He made me risk my life by going into Macavity's territory. He tried to make me love him when I didn't. He ruined my life." She rolled over to face Alonzo. "And on top of that, he's magical. All magical cats are evil. He admitted it himself. I can't believe I ever wanted him to come back."

Alonzo purposefully ignored the last part of her statement. The trick to ending the argument, he'd learned, was to change the subject. "Surely you can't think your life is ruined now?" he said with a smile as he nuzzled her neck.

She reciprocated the nuzzle. "No, not now," she responded. "I should have thanked him for making my life the way it is now."

"That's what I thought, my sweet." Alonzo began administering playful kisses to his mate to sweeten the early morning. Unfortunately, their snuggle session was soon interrupted.

"Daddy!" the little kit yelled, pouncing on his father from nowhere. He stared at him with bright blue eyes, framed by a white face. He was completely white, except for black ears and a black tip on his tail. The kit was only three months old. "Daddy! You promised!"

Victoria glared crookedly at her mate, partly annoyed that they had been interrupted, curious as to what he had "promised," and slightly amused at the manner in which he was being pounced.

Lex still sat on his father's side. "C'mon Daddy! You promised to take me on Junkyard Patrol with you today! Let's go!" he called impatiently (though still cutely).

"Lex," Alonzo muttered, "Patrol isn't until noon today." He looked out the window for a moment, and continued, "It's barely daybreak. Go play and come back then. Your mother and I were ... doing something."

"But Daddy!"

"'Lonzo, why don't you take him out for some breakfast?" Victoria prompted. She could see that her kitten would not be going anywhere for a while, as excited as he was.

Alonzo looked out the window, looked at his mate, looked at his son, and finally grumbled, "Oh, all right. C'mon, Lex. You have to get off me before I can get up."

Alonzo was absorbed in his thoughts as he watched his kitten run ahead of him to the hunting grounds. Lex. His whole name was Lexuther, but no one called him by it, finding the name to be too unfamiliar and a mouthful at that. The name's origin had been in a comic book, but Alonzo would never inform the rest of the junkyard of this fact, considering the power of feline names. Other cats would worry that a non-traditional name might leading to a non-traditional cat, but Alonzo was confident that Lex would be fine with a name that sounded so - as he put it - "wicked awesome."

His dream was still on his mind. It had been two whole years, but he still regretted letting Mistoffelees go off to join his father. Even though Mistoffelees wouldn't admit it, Alonzo was convinced that all magical cats weren't all bad. Then again, what did he know about magic? Nothing, considering that he had never had it. It was possible that there was still some innate quality about magic that made its possessors turn to evil and hatred (considering how mysterious cats were in other respects), but Alonzo didn't believe it could be true. Alonzo (unlike most other cats) still remembered Mistoffelees before the accident (he unconsciously insisted on thinking of it as an "accident"). He had never been wicked in any way at all before that. It was only after he left the junkyard that he had started doing ... well, starting taking after his father. But Alonzo was sure that it had been something else, not magic, that had made Mistoffelees turn to that.

Then again, what did he know?

"Daddy, come on!" Lex called to him. Alonzo had unconsciously stopped walking, deep in his thoughts as he was. Now, his tiny kit was yelling at him to hurry up. "Daddy! I'm hungry! Let's go!"

"Hold your horses! We'll get there!" Alonzo said, smiling. He strode over to Lex and put a paw on his back as he led him toward the hunting grounds. "Now, what are the three things I told you about hunting?"

"Be really really quiet?"

"That's right. And?"

"Crouch really low to the ground?"

"Uh-huh! And the last one?"

"Stick your butt in the air so queens will see it?"

Alonzo snorted, trying to hold in his laughter over the last response. He didn't want to laugh at his kitten, who had responded with complete sincerity, but he couldn't imagine where he'd heard that!

"Ah, Lex?" he said as he gingerly removed his paw from his mouth, lest another laugh escape from it. Lex looked up at him, with no idea as to why his father was acting this way. "Lex," he continued, "Who taught you that last one?"

"Rum Tum Tugger!" he called out ingenuously.

"I should have known," mumbled Alonzo. He made a mental note to find a new kitten-sitter.

"Huh?" queried Lex.

"Nothing," his father replied. "Now, what was the last part of hunting that I taught you?"

"Pounce?"

"Yeah, that's it," Alonzo mumbled, internally relieved that Lex had remembered after all.

They walked in silence together to the hunting grounds, Alonzo deep in thought, and Lex curious as to what he was thinking so intently about. Suddenly, Lex stopped, and Alonzo nearly tripped over him. When he regained his balance, Alonzo stuttered, "Lex, what did you stop for?"

The kitten innocently responded, "We're here."

Alonzo looked. They had indeed arrived at the hunting grounds. "Ah," he mumbled, "So we are." The extent to which he was distracted was beginning to scare him.

He decided food would take his mind off of painful memories. "So," he kneeled down, put his arm over his son's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Are you ready to do some hunting?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

"Daddy!"

Alonzo grimaced. Lex had just scared away the mouse he was about to pounce on. "What is it, Lex?" he asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Everything keeps running away before I can catch it!" The young kitten put his paws on his hips, glaring at Alonzo as though it were his fault. "I haven't caught anything, and I'm really hungry!"

"Well," Alonzo started as he turned over from his crouching position to sit on the ground facing Lex. "Are you being very quiet?"

"YES!" he yelled at the top of his little lungs. Every small rodent within half a mile would have to be gone now. "Daddy, I'm hungry!"

"Well, we're just going to have to try again, eh Lex?" Alonzo managed to say with a smile. Venting his frustrations on his kitten would help no one, and he hadn't caught enough that they could share and still bring some back for Victoria. They'd just have to keep trying.

Lex made a sound like, "Hmph," but he did follow his father over to a fresh spot to try to get something else.

Five minutes later, they were both more frustrated than ever. Lex had managed to scare off three more rodents. "Lex, you really need to be more quiet," Alonzo tried to explain, scraping out his last shred of patience. Lex appeared to be about to complain again, but luckily, at that moment, Alonzo spied a field mouse a few feet away. He quickly cut off Lex's impending complaint with a quick motion, and pointed to the mouse, raising his eyebrows. Lex was very much confused until he followed his dad's gaze over to the mouse, and his face lit up. Guided by the motions of Alonzo, he silently crouched very low to the ground. (He did try to stick his butt in the air, but Alonzo firmly pushed it down.) He waited for just the right chance, but when Alonzo whispered, "Now!" in his ear, he sprung forward with a ninja-style "Yraaah!"

The mouse heard him before he landed, and had ample time to scurry away up a nearby tree, too high for poor Lex to hear him.

"Aaarrrggh!" Lex cried out in frustration. He couldn't stand it anymore! He hadn't caught anything all day! He was just so angry!

Alonzo tried to calm his kitten. "It's okay, Lex. We'll just go find something else. You don't need to be so upset." But Lex would have none of it. His paws were clenched in tight fists, his eyes shut equally as tight. Sweat came to his brow as he tried to deal with his extreme emotions. He trembled with the effort it took to hold in his frustration, but finally, he could take it no more. His body acted on instinct without consulting his mind. Without thinking, he let out an unearthly scream and reached for the tree with his little paws. To Alonzo's horror, green lightning shot out of his outstretched paws, to strike the tree with the offending mouse. The smell of burning wood filled the air. The lightning crackled and burned for an entire ten seconds, until little Lex dropped his paws. His arms fell to his sides, his eyes rolled up, and he fell to the ground in a dead faint, completely exhausted. A starburst pattern was scorched permanently into the tree, and the mouse was nowhere to be found; it had been completely obliterated.

Alonzo crept over to the unconscious figure of his son. His eyes were wide with horror and fear for what this was going to mean for his Lexuther.

"No, no," he uttered softly as a single tear fell to the ground.

So much for brushing off painful memories.

* * *

"No, no!"

"Oh, yes."

"You really are a devil!"

"Don't I know it."

The queen beneath him writhed and screamed as Mistoffelees violently ground his hips into hers. No one would hear her; he'd made sure of that. They were in a small, soundproof room deep within Macavity's headquarters. She was really only making it worse for herself. She should just shut up and enjoy the ride.

"Aaahh! You're so sick!" She tried to push him off her with her weak paws, but Mistoffelees wouldn't stand for it. He magically locked her fists to the floor below them, and spread her legs a little farther apart while he was at it.

"Hey, don't forget," he sneered as he smothered her mouth with his paw. As much as she struggled, with her own paws bound, she could not free herself. Mistoffelees continued: "You asked for this. You came to me. You can't blame me if you don't enjoy it."

The queen bit down hard on his paw, making a red tinge on the white fur.

"Oh, touchy!" Mistoffelees sneered again. She growled and bared her teeth at him. He smiled. "You're asking for this too, then." He leaned down and whispered menacingly in her ear. "You'll do this for me, whether you like it or not."

With that, he reached for his power, preparing to change the queen's mind for her. However, he was interrupted by a sudden magical awareness. He stopped, perked his ears up, and spread out his senses, trying to confirm that he had really felt what he thought he had. When he found it, he smiled evilly.

"Now that's very interesting," he muttered. He stood up and left the small soundproof room, leaving the queen he'd brutally raped still bound to the floor by his magic.


	2. Chapter 2

"VICTORIA!" Alonzo screamed as he ran through the junkyard carrying the unconscious Lex in his arms. He was desperate and panicked and did not care if he destroyed the peace and quiet of the yard. He had something a little more important on his mind.

"Victoria!" he called as he crashed to a halt outside their den. Victoria came running out, startled and alarmed by his screams. When she saw the condition of her kitten, she looked as though she might have fainted herself, but Alonzo quickly took charge of the situation. "He's fainted," he told his mate (who had assumed the worst). "Help me carry him inside!"

Victoria helped, and pretty soon, they had him lying on the back seat of their old VW Bug. "What happened!" Victoria screamed once they had him situated.

Alonzo hesitated. "You may wish to sit down," he tried to tell her. He knew how what he was going to say would affect his mate, already against it as she was.

"Just tell me what happened!" she screamed again as she knelt over her son, trying to ascertain whether he was still breathing.

"Victoria, listen to me," Alonzo said as he took her in his arms. She reluctantly took her eyes from Lex and looked up into his. "Lexuther will be all right." For now, he mentally added. Out loud, he continued "Just, come sit down."

When they were sitting together in the front seat, Alonzo told her the story of how he and Lex were hunting, and of how he couldn't help scaring off all the mice, and of how he'd scared off the last one. But he paused when he got to the part where he'd gotten so frustrated. "I'm ... I'm not sure how to say this," he stalled.

"Just tell me!" Victoria howled. "What happened to Lex!"

"Lexuther," Alonzo whispered hesitantly, "...Killed the mouse."

This confused Victoria. "How did he kill it?"

"He ... well ... Lex killed the mouse the same way ... Mistoffelees might have done it."

Victoria's eyes started to well up. "Magic?" she breathed, not able to believe it. Alonzo nodded solemnly, avoiding her gaze. She turned to the back seat of the car to look at her kitten. "Lexuther can't use magic. He's not a magical cat."

"Victoria, I don't think - "

"He's not a magical cat! He can't be! Neither of us are magical cats. Lex can't be magical!"

"I'm not sure it works that way," Alonzo replied softly.

Presented with the compelling evidence of an unconscious kitten, rather than contradict her mate, Victoria began to cry softly. Alonzo put his arms around her and held her crying form for a long time, holding vigil over their child and worrying about what was to come.

* * *

"Did you feel that?" Mistoffelees asked as he stepped into his father's chambers and leaned on the door frame.

"Yes," Macavity muttered, his mind clearly elsewhere. He was at work, raking through a small pile of jewels with an expert's eye. Mistoffelees waited. Finally, Macavity looked at the tuxedo in his doorway. "Yes, I felt it," he said with more conviction as he sat up and smirked. "Do you recognize who it is?" he asked.

"Only that it was a very young tom," he announced. "Perhaps too young for me to have known him. Of course," he added with a sneer, "I could go find out."

With a matching sneer, Macavity ordered, "Go do that. It's been far too long since you visited the junkyard."

Mistoffelees smiled, crossed his arm over his chest, and bowed before Macavity in the formal style that all his henchcats were required to use. As the boss's own son, he wasn't necessarily required to use it, but it never hurt to be in Macavity's good graces.

With that, he left to return to his own chambers to prepare for this visit which had the potential to be ever so interesting.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Victoria asked weepily once her sobs had subsided somewhat.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Alonzo stammered. While Victoria's mind was blank with shock, Alonzo's was overflowing with thoughts and confusion about what this was going to mean. "Maybe we should tell Munkustrap?" he asked hastily.

"No! You remember what happened to Mistoffelees!" Victoria cried, temporarily remembering what he'd been like. "Everyone liked him until he revealed himself!"

Alonzo got up and began to pace. "Well, yeah," he agreed. "But he had just killed someone!"

"Don't remind me," she retorted, pulling her knees to her chest.

Alonzo stopped in his tracks and looked at his mate. "Vicks, I'm sorry, but – I mean - ... - oh, you're right. We can't tell anyone. At least not right away." He began to pace again. "But we have to do something!" he stammered. "Like, okay, um ... what are we going to do when he wakes up?"

Victoria cast a despairing glance at her son, and muttered, "Do you think he'll remember?"

Alonzo thought a moment, then answered, "I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know much about magic. Mistoffelees –" he was suddenly cut off by a glare from Victoria. She didn't want to hear about him ever again. Still, he went on: "I know. But he never spoke about the intricacies and things like that." He paused. His eyes glazed over, and he mumbled, "He did say how hard it was to keep it a secret. How much it hurt to know that if his friends knew what he really was, they would hate him." He paused in grief, but collected himself and said determinedly, "We can't let that happen to Lex."

"But what can we do?" she whispered softly.

"I don't know," he replied just as softly. Then he glanced out the window. "Gah!"

"What is it?" she cried; he'd startled her, as emotionally charged as she already was.

"It's past noon," he moaned. "I'm late for junkyard watch."

"Oh." Victoria looked out the window to confirm what he'd said. "Do you really have to go?" she asked.

"Yes," he muttered as he tried to get himself presentable. "Munkustrap's out with Old Deuteronomy somewhere, Tugger is tied up with his kits, and Admetus and Tumblebrutus just finished their shifts. I really do have to go." He peeked in the Bug's rearview mirror, then glanced at his mate. Her face was torn with grief and worry. He took her into his arms and held her there for a long time; both of them held on dearly, simply needing something to hold onto for strength for what they knew was going to be a difficult ordeal, both for them and for their kitten.

"What should I do if he wakes up?" she whispered into his shoulder.

Alonzo hesitated again. "I don't know," he finally stammered. He released her so he could look in her eyes. "If he wakes up, just ... don't tell him if he asks. Try to keep him quiet, or get him to go back to sleep.

She nodded, and he slipped out the open window to fulfill his duty.

* * *

Alonzo sighed as he trudged to the outer fence. He didn't know what to do! What was possibly the worst possible thing to a parent had happened: his kitten had shown beyond all doubt that he possessed magic. There was no question about it; the the rest of the junkyard Jellicles found out, they wouldn't stand for it. Lex would not be allowed to live in the junkyard anymore. Even though the Jellicles were usually surprisingly tolerant, Alonzo knew they wouldn't put up with his magical kitten. Considering the precedent, cats old enough to remember what Mistoffelees had done would not make exceptions. He didn't know if the kittens born in the last year or so would feel the same way. Not that it mattered whether they did or not. But Alonzo couldn't help hoping that if he could somehow make the Jellicles see, prepare them somehow, they might let Lex stay! Not all magicals were bad! He just knew it!

Of course, it was hard to argue with precedent.

Suddenly, Alonzo stopped dead in his tracks. Something on the path just ahead of him had startled him. Behind a pile of tires, underneath a recliner, poking out of a cupboard, lied a black tail, tipped with white, twitching contemplatively.

Speak of the devil!

Alonzo acted without realizing he'd reverted to his kittenish behavior; instinctively, he lowered into a crouch, and sprang forward to pounce on the twitching tail as he used to do when they were kits. From inside the cupboard, the tail's owner yreowled, surprised by the unexpected attack. Alonzo was nothing but thrilled that his friend was back in the junkyard. He ripped open the cupboard door and was surprised to be pelted with a whirlwind of glitter and sparkles. He sat for a moment, sputtering and trying to get the glitter out of his eyes. Only then did the occupant of the cupboard glare out to see who his assailant was.

"Alonzo!" he cried. Then he noticed the sparkly bits adorning his old friend. "Sorry, it was a reflex," he said in apology. With a wave of his paw, the glitter disappeared just as quickly as it came. "You would have had quite a time getting that out of your fur," he snickered.

Alonzo just stared at him for a long moment (for that was not the first time he'd been pelted by magical glitter, not by far). When he finally found his voice, he cried, "Mistoffelees! What are you doing here?"

Mistoffelees smiled evilly and leaned back in the cupboard comfortably. "I told you I'd come visit, didn't I?" he said. "Well, here I am!"

Alonzo stammered gibberish for a moment, but managed to make out, "B-but, you! You! You're here! Why are you here?"

Mistoffelees smirked. "Do I really need a reason to come visit?"

An embarrassed smile spread over Alonzo's face, and he muttered, "Well, no, I guess ... it's just ... Mistoffelees! I can't believe you're really here! It's been so ..." but he trailed off suddenly. Tumblebrutus was rapidly approaching him with a very angry look on his face. Alonzo turned to the tuxedo in the cupboard and whispered frantically, "Quick, close it!" and shut the door in his face, putting himself between it and Tumble.

"Alonzo!" Tumble called when he wasn't too far away. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be at the gate half an hour ago!"

Alonzo straightened up and took a dignified stance. Underneath his normally friendly demeanor, he actually outranked most of the other toms in the yard, as second to Munkustrap. "It was a family issue," he said with authority. "It's nothing you need to be concerned with."

"Fine," Tumble said, still annoyed. "But you owe me one, man! You're lucky Munku-stick-up-his-arse-Strap didn't come by and see that you weren't there!"

Alonzo broke the holier-than-thou pose and resumed the laid-back posture he usually had with friends. "Yeah, I do," he said sheepishly. "I'll get over there, then."

As soon as Tumble was gone, Alonzo looked around furtively to make sure no one was around, and reopened the cupboard. To his puzzlement and suprise, it was completely empty. He poked his head inside to try to find the missing tuxedo.

"You really didn't have to do that, you know," a voice said suddenly, causing poor Alonzo to bump his head. He withdrew his noggin, and found Mistoffelees sitting comfortably on the recliner that rested atop the cupboard. "Do you really think I have to hide in a cupboard to keep someone from seeing me?"

Alonzo, dazed and confused, stared at Mistoffelees, who only glared back. It had been such a worrisome morning; Alonzo was already exhausted and not thinking straight. "Oh, yeah, huh," he drawled. How could he have forgotten the dozens of times when he was the only one of the two of them who got in trouble, because Mistoffelees had been able to get away somehow or another?

"Yeah," the tux responded to this witticism. He continued: "So what was Tumblebrutus saying about you being late for something?" He cocked an eyebrow at the patched tom.

Alonzo moaned. "I'm late for junkyard watch. I have to get over to the gate. Hey, why don't you come with me?" he asked.

Mistoffelees looked around for a moment, then said, "Better yet, I'll meet you there." And in a puff of smoke, he simply disappeared.

A few minutes later when Alonzo finally climbed to the high platform which overlooked the junkyard gate, he found his magical friend already sitting comfortably atop it. The day was quite hot, and there was no shade on the ledge, but for some reason, Mistoffelees was sitting in a conspicous shadow of ... something. Alonzo looked up, and could see the sun clearly, but was still somehow in shade. More magic.

"Have a seat," Mistoffelees offered, without even opening his eyes.

Alonzo obediantly took a seat and began his watch of the gate. Looking on, he said, "So come on, you have to have some reason for coming now. Tell me."

Mistoffelees said nothing, but the tiny knowing smirk on his face spoke volumes. Alonzo continued, "All right then, so tell me what you've been up to."

Mistoffelees coughed, taken aback by the question. "Oh, I really don't think you'd want to hear about that sort of thing..." He changed the subject: "So what's happened here while I was away?"

Alonzo smiled. "Well, most of us have grown up. All of us you knew as kittens have had the coming-of-age. Even Jemima's a full-fledged queen. Tugger finally settled down – "

"No way!"

"Way! With Etcetera, no less. Actually, he broke his leg and an arm one day, so he was sort of forced to settle down. He was lucky curiosity didn't do him in. Etcetera was the only one who would care for him while he was laid up, and they just sort of hit it off. They've even got kittens. Actually, it seems like there's a ton of new kittens lately."

"New kittens, eh?" Mistoffelees muttered. "Hmm ... I think I'd like to meet some of them."

This surprised Alonzo. "Meet them?" he questioned. Mistoffelees nodded, his expression unreadable. "I ... I'm not sure you can do that," Alonzo stammered. "You ... I mean, weren't you banished? You shouldn't even really be here now."

"Well," he started, grinning an innocent smirk, "You did say that I could come back, didn't you? I believe three cats did vouch for me, that was the deal..."

Alonzo wasn't so sure that was still true, but he didn't say anything. Mistoffelees went on: "So, you told me about new kittens, but has there been anything, you know, unusual, of interest?"

Alonzo thought. The giant episode that morning came to mind, but he couldn't let himself dwell on that; besides, he didn't exactly want to tell Mistoffelees about that just yet. "No, nothing important," he said.

Mistoffelees sat up and stared at him, then said coldly, "You're lying."

Startled, Alonzo looked away from the gate for the first time since they'd gotten up there and and stared back at Mistoffelees. An eerie smile spread over the conjurer's face. "Yes, I can tell," he said. "Don't even try to trick me. Something has gone on recently. And I think ..." he said, probing further, "That it is something I could help with..."

Alonzo considered. He did have a point. If anyone could help with magic, it would be Mistoffelees. Then again, he knew too well how his mate might react to his presence. Still he had no idea what to do with Lexuther! He could hurt himself if he didn't know what he was doing. Worse yet, he could hurt someone else, let the whole tribe find out what he could do and then ... well, it was unthinkable.

Still, there was no fooling Mistoffelees.

"Well," Alonzo started, "You see, this morning, something happened with my kit – "

"Your kit!" Mistoffelees interrupted suddenly. "You have a kitten! It's your kit I came here for?"

Alonzo blushed, uneasy. He couldn't really hide anything from his magical friend, could he? "So you already know what happened?" he asked sheepishly.

"Are you kidding? I felt what he did from a mile away! What did he hit, anyway?"

Alonzo frowned harder. "A tree ..."

"You're lucky then," Mistoffelees continued, taking a dignified air. "He certainly would have killed a cat if that had been what he was aiming for."

Thanks, Mistoffelees. You're so helpful, Alonzo thought to himself. Still, he didn't think Mistoffelees realized the gravity of the situation. "Mistoffelees, is he going to be all right?" he asked with a father's concern. "I don't think he's woken up since he fainted, right after doing that!"

Mistoffelees shrugged and blew it off. "Oh, don't worry! He'll be fine. The shock and energy it takes for a first working always leaves a kitten drained."

"So he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine!"

Alonzo sighed, but then moaned. Even if Lex's body would fine, it wasn't going to stop the trouble that magic would cause! He certainly didn't want his kitten to go through the pain and suffering Mistoffelees had. Heck, Mistoffelees had been banished for magic!

"I know what you're thinking, and I can honestly tell you it's worth it."

Alonzo stared pointedly at him. "Worth it?" he asked.

Mistoffelees nodded slowly as he spoke. "Yes, it's very much worth it. All the pain, suffering, it's but a small price to pay for the glorious abilities that magic brings. I don't expect you to understand, but your kitten will, in time."

This left Alonzo mute for a long moment, thinking about what Mistoffelees had said. Finally, he asked (with the curiosity that is every cats' downfall), "So ... what exactly can he ... do?"

"With magic?"

"Yes."

Mistoffelees shrugged. "Actually, the question should be more like what can't he do." He leaned back and closed his eyes, in a relaxed position. "Magic is much more intuitive than learning individual spells. Of course, there are the basics that all magicals start out with, but with proper training, he'll be able to do about anything he wants."

Alonzo could only stare. How did Mistoffelees know so much? He'd been the lone magical cat in the junkyard. He barely knew enough about his own power to control it. Now he knew the traditional upbringing of magical cats?

As if by, well, magic, Mistoffelees interrupted Alonzo's thoughts: "You didn't think I was the only magical cat in Macavity's employ, did you? So what do you say you introduce me to the kit!"

Introduce him? "I ... not yet ..." Alonzo mumbled.

Mistoffelees but his paws on his hips in a mock pout. "And why not?" he asked indignantly.

Alonzo hesitated, then said pathetically, "I have to stay and guard the gate."

The tux rolled his eyes. "Guard it from what? Macavity?" he asked. Alonzo nodded slowly. "Trust me. You won't see him today." Mistoffelees explained. "Don't worry. He's not coming here any time soon." He then started to climb down off the platform.

Alonzo grimaced. It was just too soon. He and Victoria were still sick with worry. He didn't want Mistoffelees near that Bug without time to prepare his family. "What about Pollicles?" he tried, "They might come through the gate!"

Mistoffelees paused in his climbing and looked up at Alonzo. "Trust me: nothing will be coming through that gate."

"How do you know?"

Mistoffelees gave him a meaningful look. "I know. Just trust me. Now let's go." With that, a cloud of smoke appeared around him, and he started to dematerialize. Alonzo stared, until smoke started appearing around him, too. It seemed Mistoffelees wasn't leaving without him. Then he started to panic; Mistoffelees had never used this kind of magic on him before! He panicked and screamed, not caring if anyone heard. But the scream didn't last long. No sooner had the smoke cleared than he found himself in the small clearing that was his backyard of sorts. Ahead, he saw Mistoffelees calmly walking towards the car.

"Mistoffelees, don't!" he cried, but it was too late.


	3. Chapter 3

In the car, little Lex's eyelids fluttered, and he moaned as he sat up groggily. He rubbed his aching head as he wondered what happened. He remembered hunting (or trying to hunt) in the woods with Daddy, and he couldn't catch anything, and it made him really mad, but he couldn't remember much more than that. So why did he ache and feel so empty?

"Mommy?" he cried weakly, unsure if she was in the car-den or not.

Mommy poked her head around the back of the driver's seat where she was sitting. "What is it, Lex?" she asked without coming any closer.

"Did ... did something bad happen?" Lex asked, his kitten eyes wide and innocent. Mommy accidentally grimaced. Lex saw that, and said, "It did, didn't it?"

She crawled back into the backseat with Lex. "Don't worry, Sweetie. Everything's going to be all right," she crooned as she rocked him back and forth.

Lex's lower lip quivered, and he continued, "But something bad happened, didn't it?"

"Don't worry about it," Mommy repeated.

The little kitten whimpered. Something bad happened. He just knew it. He couldn't really remember ... only that he did something really big, and it made him feel tired and empty. It –

Suddenly, Lex got a feeling he had never felt before. He couldn't say how, but he knew, he just knew, something was coming. Something important. And – he grimaced – something really bad.

"Mommy?" he whispered as he looked up at her with his big kitten eyes. "Mommy, something's coming!"

His mommy's face grew worried. "Something's coming? Like Daddy?" she asked softly.

Lex opened his mouth to say "no," but he suddenly reconsidered. Yes, there was something coming that felt like Daddy! But that wasn't all; in fact, the other something felt much bigger compared to Daddy. "Yeah, it feels like Daddy," he said. "But there's something else coming too! Something bad!"

Mommy grimaced, but still said, "Shh, honey. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Just go back to sleep." And she continued rocking and crooning to him.

Lex closed his eyes, but there was no way he could fall asleep! There was something coming! But it wasn't all bad. There was a little good there, too. But it wasn't the good of doing something right. It was the pleasure of doing something wrong.

It was still scary.

"Mommy, there's something coming!" he tried to tell her, growing more and more panicked. It was getting closer! It – no! It wasn't an it, he suddenly felt. It was a cat!

"Lexuther, calm down," Mommy whispered in his ears, but it was no good. He writhed in her arms, alarmed at the feeling that scared him. Finally, he wriggled out of her grasp and crawled over to the open window of the car.

As he peeped his head over the ledge, imagine his surprise to see a pair of startling black eyes staring back, only inches away from his own! He yeeped and backed away from the window, back toward the safety and shelter of Mommy. The other cat raised his head up so Lex could see his whole face. "Mommy, that's the bad cat!" he whispered.

"Mistoffelees!" Mommy breathed, seemingly petrified. Lex stared, unable to take his eyes off the black and white form.

The black and white form in question stared in the car with a horrified look on his face. He looked at Lex, then at Mommy, then horribly whispered, "Victoria? You – ?"

But he was cut off by the voice of Daddy calling from across the backyard. "Mistoffelees, no!" he cried. Daddy came running up to the lair, put his paws on the new cat's shoulders, as if to pull him away from the car, but he yreowled and leapt back, as if electrically shocked. He still managed to gasp, "Mistoffelees! It's not how it looks!"

The tuxedo turned to Daddy, and enraged look on his face, and cried. "Tell me it's not! Tell me it's not how it looks!"

"It's not!"

The newcomer looked like he was going to yell at Daddy again, but instead, he took a glimpse of Lex and Mommy, embracing inside the car. Instead, he forcibly grabbed Daddy's wrist, and in a puff of smoke, they disappeared!

"Mommy? How'd he do that?" little Lex whispered.

Mommy didn't answer.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, Alonzo found himself in a deserted alley, miles away from any familiar territory. Mistoffelees was there, too, fuming.

"You!" he cried, pacing, unable to keep still. "How could you? And you knew! You knew how I felt for her! I risked everything for her, to have her! I showed everyone what I am! I killed Plato! And I lost everything, including her! How could you? How could you mate with her?" He advanced on Alonzo, paws sparking and eyes flashing.

"You told me to take care of her," Alonzo responded flatly, trying to stay calm.

"I didn't tell you to mate with her!" Mistoffelees bellowed, his voice unearthly strong. "You had a kitten with her! How could you? How could you?" He lunged for Alonzo's throat, trying to strangle him with paws sparking with electricity.

Alonzo deftly caught his wrists; skilled at fighting as he was, he was able to hold the small tom easily (though that wouldn't be true if Mistoffelees started using more magic on him). "Mistoffelees," he whispered, "Don't do this. It would crush her."

He thrashed for a minute more, then stilled. Alonzo slowly let go of his wrists when he was sure he wouldn't be electrocuted. Mistoffelees stood there for another moment before he said coldly, "Fine."

In the blink of an eye and a puff of smoke, they were both whisked back to the junkyard.

* * *

Back in the junkyard, something about the way Daddy and the new cat had disappeared fascinated Lexuther to no end. "Mommy, how'd he do that?" he kept asking, but Mommy would only hush him and make him try to go to sleep. But Lex couldn't possibly go to sleep! Daddy had just disppeared, and he might be in trouble! And there was something about the new cat that made him the center of Lex's admittedly short attention span.

"Lexuther!" Mommy cried when she could take his inquisitiveness no more. "Be quiet and go to sleep!"

"But Mommy!" he cried, "What did he do? How'd he do that? I gotta know!"

Suddenly, Mommy's expression changed. She looked almost afraid. "Why?" she whispered. "Why do you have to know?"

"Because I just do!" the little kitten cried.

Mommy's face softened, and she drew him very close into her arms. When he touched her face, he could have sworn he felt wetness there. "Just forget about it," she sobbed quietly. "Just forget about it and don't think about it. Don't think about it ever again. Just forget this day, okay Sweetie?"

But for little Lexuther, that would be very much impossible.

* * *

Alonzo and Mistoffelees reappeared in Alonzo's backyard, out of sight of the den. As Mistoffelees started to stroll over to the car calmly, Alonzo caught him by the arm. Mistoffelees turned around to see what the problem was.

"Mistoffelees, please, just tell me what you're going to do to him."

Mistoffelees shrugged nonchalantly, his earlier outrage seemingly forgotten. "I'm not going to hurt him, if that's what you mean. I'm not even really going to do anything to him. I'll just introduce myself, and sort of ... get him used to the idea of magic." He then turned around and headed toward the den. Alonzo hesitated. He wasn't sure if this was what he really wanted, but he didn't really have a choice now, did he? Besides, what if Lex lost control of himself, like he had this morning? He could be dangerous if he didn't know what he was doing.

As Mistoffelees walked to the side of the car Lex was situated in, Alonzo crept toward the other. Victoria was going to need some convincing if this was going to go smoothly.

* * *

Lex still sat in the arms of his mother, saying, "I don't know what you're talking 'bout! And I gotta know how he did that!" when all of a sudden, the black and white face popped into his view through the window again. But this time, Lex felt, it was somehow different. He stopped struggling with Mommy and focused his attention on the face. It was definitely the same cat that had alarmed him before, but now he was different somehow. Now he couldn't believe this cat was bad! He certainly didn't seem bad now. He seemed really warm and friendly, and his smile appeared knowing and sincere. Lex actually felt drawn to him; he had to meet this cat!

Mommy apparently felt none of this. "Mistoffelees!" she cried, alarmed and enraged. "Get out! Get out of here! I never want to see you again!"

But she was suddenly stopped by the sudden appearance of Daddy in the car window behind her. "Vicks, sweetie, just let him talk to Lex –"

"No! That tom ruined my life! I won't have him talking to my kitten! He – !"

"Victoria, just come out here and talk to me!" Daddy reached in through the open window and forcibly pulled Mommy out, leaving Lex alone in the den.

"That's better," the mysterious tuxedo said as he climbed into the recently vacated car seat.

Lex looked out the window after his mother. Daddy was taking her by the paw out into the backyard, out of earshot. "Mommy," he started, but he was interrupted by the soft voice of the other cat with him.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," he said as he forced Lex to look up at him.

Why or how he did not know, but suddenly, all thoughts of concern for Mommy simply flew out of his head, and he was filled only with curiosity about this new cat.

"How'd – how'd you do that?" Lex asked him, stuttering.

He smiled knowingly, friendly as family. "Do what?"

Lex pointed out the window where he'd seen the tuxedo and his father disappear. "That. When you made you and Daddy disappear."

The smile grew even broader. In a tiny whisper, he uttered, "Magic."

It was as though the simple word had caused a blossoming feeling inside him. It triggered a wonderful, ecstatic feeling, but also insatiable curiosity, and moreover, a need to know how to do that ...

* * *

Mistoffelees watched in wonder as his words touched the kitten in ways he'd known they would. In watching him, he was in a way reliving his own monumental discovery of his powers. Of course, this would be far different.

Lexuther still sat dumbstruck. Mistoffelees broke the silence: "I heard you did something big today."

The sound of his voice brought Lex back to the present. He frowned and said, "I think so, but I dunno what happened. I can't remember. I think Mommy and Daddy know, but they won't tell me."

"They don't want you to know."

This brought Lex to full attention. His gaze snapped to Mistoffelees, and he asked with big kitten eyes, "Do you know? Can you tell me?"

As an answer, Mistoffelees only smiled that broad smile. He held his paws over the space between them, and when he brought them away, Lex gasped as he saw the bright green ball he'd conjured. "I'll bet," Mistoffelees whispered, "that if you tried really hard, just poured your whole self into it, you could make the ball float in the air."

He saw the kitten's breath hitch as his mind fumbled with this new trick. Mistoffelees could literally see the kit's fledging power. It appeared as a green vapor, and prodded the ball under Lexuther's unconscious control. Sweat came to his forehead, but after a few moments, his eyes widened as he saw the ball levitate first an inch, then two , then three, then six, and finally rested twelve inches in the air.

It dropped to the seat when he started thinking about it too much, but his eyes remained wide open with shock. "Did I – did I just - ?" he stuttered.

Mistoffelees, still smiling broadly, nodded amusedly. "You just did magic."

He watched smugly as Lex's mind boggled with the implications of magic. Suddenly, he looked up and asked, "What's your name?"

He answered with a wicked grin. "Mistoffelees."

* * *

Alonzo stopped forcing Victoria away from the car when he was reasonably sure that they were in a part of the junkyard where they could not be overheard.

"What do you think you're doing?" Victoria demanded when her mate stopped. "Alonzo! Lex is alone with Mistoffelees! I have to get back there!" She turned to run back to the den, but Alonzo deftly caught her wrist. "Let go!" she called, but he grabbed her by the shoulders now and forced her to look at him.

"Victoria! Victoria, listen to me!" She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to listen, but he spoke anyway. "Victoria, Lex has magic! We can't do anything about that. Mistoffelees can – "

Victoria's eyes flew open and she yelled, "No! We don't have to do anything about it! He doesn't have to use it!"

Alonzo frowned. "Victoria," he started in a softer voice. "Lex incinerated a mouse today, and he didn't even know he had powers. Imagine what he could do once he knows. Do you want him to be a danger to other cats?"

"But that's why he can't know! He doesn't have to – "

"You want him to go without knowing his greatest gift?"

Alonzo looked around abrubtly. He had not said that, he knew Victoria hadn't, and there was certainly no one in the small clearing around them. That left one cat ...

"Mistoffelees?" Alonzo called questioningly.

"Yes?" the answer came, sounding so innocent. Again, the voice seemed to come from nowhere.

Alonzo sighed in frustration. "Mistoffelees, have you been listening to our whole conversation?"

"Why shouldn't I? You're talking about me. I'm just projecting my thoughts about your conversation to you at the same time as I talk with Lexuther."

"Leave my kitten alone!" Victoria shouted, but Alonzo shushed her.

"Mistoffelees," he started, "What do you mean, 'greatest gift'?"

"Magic is the greatest gift a cat can have. I won't even try to explain. You wouldn't understand. But I understand that you wouldn't want anyone to know about him, and I can help. I can teach him to use it safely."

Victoria, who had seemingly given up on yelling at Mistoffelees, and was now more filled with concern for her kitten, asked, "Can't he just not use it? Forget about it?"

Alonzo could have sworn he heard Mistoffelees snicker. "Are you kidding? No, there's no way he can just 'forget' about magic. If he doesn't use his power, it will find its own ways to get out, and you really don't want that."

Both parents sighed. They were thinking the same thought: there would be no getting around this. Their kitten had magic. In actuality, it posed two problems, the first being that if anyone else in the junkyard knew, Lex would be promptly banished, no matter how young he was. The second was that in addition to being a danger to themselves and others, magical cats tended to have ... less than moral habits.

"Mistoffelees!" Alonzo suddenly said with authority. "You'll teach him only to control it! Nothing else! Understand?"

"Your wish is my command."

There was a momentary lull as the voice faded away. Then Victoria burst into tears.

* * *

"Mistoffelees?" Lex questioned. The older cat nodded. Though Lex couldn't have explained why, the name sounded fitting, somehow.

Lexuther smiled. Everything felt so good! He couldn't believe what he'd just done! If he could do that, maybe he could do some more magic! But how would he do that? Then he looked up at the tuxedo. He could do magic, too! Maybe he could -

"Lexuther?" Daddy asked as he climbed into the den. He sat down on the backseat, with Lex between him and Mistoffelees. "Lex, this is my old friend – "

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I can do!" Lex called in excitement, cutting off Daddy's attempt at introductions. He crawled down to the floor of the car and came back up with the green ball in his mouth. Setting it down on the seat, he cried, "Watch this!" With that, he tried to recapture that feeling that had shot through him when he made the ball fly the first time. But, try as he might, the ball stayed firmly where it was. "I did it before!" Lex said when he gave up in frustration and pouted.

"You're just tired. You used a lot of magic today." Mistoffelees said. "Don't worry. Get some rest. You'll be able to do more tomorrow."

Daddy cringed. "What did you do?" he asked hesitantly.

"I made it fly!"

Daddy looked sharply at Mistoffelees, who nodded. Then he looked back at Lex. "Lexuther, you did magic? On purpose?"

Lex nodded proudly. "Uh-huh! Wait 'till I show - !"

"No!" Daddy suddenly interrupted him. He drew Lex into his lap and held him in his arms. "Listen Lex," he whispered. "If you can do magic, you can't tell anybody about it."

"I can't?"

"No, you can't."

"Not even Mommy?"

"You can tell Mommy. Mommy already knows you can."

"But why can't I tell anyone?"

"Well ..." Daddy started, but Mistoffelees interrupted him.

"Other cats are afraid of us," he said.

Lex looked up at him. "Afraid?" he asked.

Mistoffelees nodded. Daddy went on: "Lex, just listen. Mommy and Daddy know you better than anyone else. We know you're a really nice cat. But if some other cats knew you could make the ball fly, they might not like you. They might even make you go away forever."

"But ... why?" Lex asked, ever the inquisitive kitten.

"Because ... because there are some other cats with magic who aren't very nice." Daddy glared at Mistoffelees as he said this, but Mistoffelees only raised his eyebrows innocently. Daddy turned back to Lex. "Just ... please, Lex. You can't tell anybody."

Lex looked at the ground, dejected, but muttered, "Okay, fine."

Mistoffelees put his paw under Lex's chin and brought his gaze up to meet his own. "Listen to me," he whispered. "What the other cats think doesn't matter. You know you are great. And that's what counts."

With Lex comforted and his first lesson time arranged for a later date on neutral terretory outside the junkyard, Daddy and Lex went to go get Mommy, and Mistoffelees left to go ... well, Lex didn't really know where his new teacher went.

He hoped, with all kittenish innocence, that he would find out soon.

* * *

"HOW COULD HE?" Mistoffelees screamed in an unearthly voice when he reached his private chambers in Macavity's current building of operation. "HOW COULD HE?" In rage he reached with his power to a vase resting on a table and sent it flying across the room to shatter in pieces against the wall. "HE KNEW I LOVED HER!" A stack of papers burst into roaring blue flames. "I LOST EVERYTHING FOR HER!" The window shattered, and cold air whipped into the room, blowing like a whirlwind. "HOW COULD HE HAVE A KITTEN WITH HER?" A mirror bubbled and cracked, having been struck by lighting from Mistoffelees' paw. "I'LL MAKE HIM PAY! I'LL MAKE HIM PAY!"

Macavity, probably sensing the monumental outburst of magic in his offices, appeared in the corner, surveying the damage to the room. Upon seeing him, Mistoffelees let the wind die down, but he still visibly seethed. It took tremendous effort not to show his embarrassment at having been caught wasting his magic. Finally, with one eyebrow raised, Macavity inquired dryly, "Did you find the kitten?"

Mistoffelees sighed. "Yes," he muttered, trying to maintain professional dignity through his rage. "His name is Lexuther, three months old. We've arranged for him to take lessons from me, only so that he may control himself. His parents are against magic, though they have no fear of him."

Macavity looked around his son's room, his eyebrows raised, asking a silent question.

Mistoffelees continued. "His parents are Victoria and Alonzo."

Macavity's eyes widened slightly with surprise, though that was the only indication he felt any emotion whatsoever. He knew quite a bit about Victoria and Alonzo from what Mistoffelees had told him. "Well," he muttered, having considered the situation. "I hope I taught you well enough for you to know what to do. And try not to ruin my building. I'm still using it." And with that, he stalked out of the room.

Mistoffelees watched him go, then collapsed on the pile of cussions that served as his bed, taking no notice of the room's state of dissarray. He was being foolish. Why destroy his quarters when there were so many more ... productive ... ways of spending his time? An eerie smile crept over his face

And it could be ever so much more fun...


End file.
